Middle Tennessee State football player Darius Johnson poses with 10-year-old Brittany Eyrich at a Special Olympics event Monday in Murfreesboro, Tenn. / Photo submitted to Gannett Tennessee

by Adam Sparks, USA TODAY Sports

by Adam Sparks, USA TODAY Sports

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - It took a lot of nerve for 10-year-old Brittany Eyrich to approach Darius Johnson, a 6-3, 293-pound Middle Tennessee State football player.

But it only took sheer adrenaline for Johnson to save Eyrich, his new friend, only moments after they met Monday at the Special Olympics at MTSU.

"I've never seen anyone have a seizure, so I just did whatever I could," Johnson said. "At the beginning of the day, that's not what I expected to be doing, helping a girl like that."

Brittany, a student at nearby Northfield Elementary, was at the event to compete in the 100-meter dash and long jump. She has autism and epilepsy, which can be triggered in high temperatures.

But before her 100-meter dash, Brittany, usually an introvert, picked out Johnson from the crowd.

"She loves football, but she usually doesn't go up to anyone like that," said Theresa Eyrich, Brittany's mother. "But for some reason, she saw No. 75 and she really wanted to meet him and get a picture with him. He was so nice to her.

"Well, after that, she ran her 100-meter dash and got too hot at the end, and it threw her into a seizure. First her teacher (Karen Godwin) helped her, but we had to pick her up and move her quickly for her medicine."

Brittany requires privacy to take her medication for seizures, and her 130-pound frame is too much for her mother to transport. So Theresa grabbed the one nearby person she knew could carry Brittany with no trouble - Johnson, who actually was wearing a walking boot from an ankle injury suffered in last Saturday's scrimmage.

"He scooped her up like a rag doll," said Brittany's mother of Johnson, who bench-presses 465 pounds and is an offensive lineman.

"But at first, she didn't want anyone to pick her up. She said, 'No, no, no.' But then she saw it was No. 75, who she asked to get a picture with. So she let him pick her up, and he ran her to a safe place for us to take her medicine."

After the fact, Theresa recalled Johnson pulling some straps off his walking boot in order to run faster with Brittany. She had just met Johnson and had no idea he had just undergone an MRI on his injured ankle. But that didn't seem to matter to Johnson.

"I couldn't feel my ankle anyway with that boot on," Johnson said. "And I was just worried because they said they had to move her somewhere or it could be bad. I picked her up and ran as fast as I could to find a place to put her so she could take her medicine."

Brittany recovered from the seizure, returned home and slept soundly Monday evening. But her mother had one more thing to do before calling it a night.

"I called (Johnson) and thanked him from the bottom of my heart. He didn't have to do what he did," Theresa said. "Those seizures can get bad if she isn't treated, but we couldn't carry her. If he didn't jump in there and help, it could have gotten very bad very quickly.

"And I just thought he should get the gratitude that he deserves."

Johnson was stunned to get the phone call from Brittany's mother after lifting weights Monday night.

"She just wanted to say how much she appreciated that," Johnson said. "It was nothing. I was just worried about her."

Johnson invited the Eyrich family, which includes Brittany's two sisters, to Saturday's Blue-White Spring Game, but they will be unable to attend because of a previously scheduled appointment.

So MTSU is sending Brittany an autographed 8-by-10 photo of Johnson.

It's a nice coincidence for the pair. After all, their link started with a simple request for a picture.